Jane Prior

Falling in love with CGI

My first computer was a Chyron, really a video typewriter used to superimpose onscreen information over video broadcasts. Typing live on air was a weird blend of exhilaration, stress and tedium, particularly on live sports (cricket tests meant five days seated, speed typing with one eye on the game, the other on the score board). The Chyron had a fun component - it had a graphics capability and a scintillating stop-frame animation function. Hooked, I studied graphic design at Randwick Tech, just before the advent of pro computer graphics (CGI). It was a great privilege to be classically trained in traditional methods, studying under talented teachers, who were successful and enthusiastic commercial artists, masters of typography, composition; all logical and lateral thinkers.

While studying graphic design at night, I headed up one of the first videographic television departments in Sydney, and fell in love with the Quantel Paintbox, the original graphics computer that you could paint with. It had a large monitor, stylus pen and tablet, and actions were completed with a dramatic hand sweep across and off the tablet, like a stage actress making a grand exit.

Transitioning from traditional to digital methods was exciting. Though … we missed getting our hands dirty; the coppery smell of the dark room, treasure chests full of paper and card stock, the swampy moonscape of the spray glue booth, and the psychedelic airbrush cubicle, guaranteed to make you light-headed. Perhaps the only thing we didn’t miss was the occupational hazard of the spray booths - at the end of the day, when you blew your nose, you’d produce your very own Jackson Pollock.

I’m exploring ways to combine traditional and digital art forms. The concept of ‘tradigital’ appeals to me, blending computer graphics with photography and mixed media, utilising the principles and disciplines of graphic design.